1954
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Clouzot is one of the best discoveries I have had on the list by far. He is the master of tension; apparently Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho in order to get his title back as the King of Suspense, which he felt like Clouzot took from him.
Anyway, from the man who brought us Wages of Fear, we get this next gem. This is the story of two women who are horribly treated by Michel, who is both emotionally and physically ambusive. In true horror film fashion, they decide to kill him and dump his body in the pool. There is a special disclaimer at the end of the movie that asks you not to spoil the film for anyone. I am not quite sure how far into the plot I can go without spoiling it so I will just stop there.
Like I said, this Clouzot is an expert at building up suspense; last time he did it with explosive trucks, this time it is with the character of Michel scaring the bejesus out of us. I guarantee edge of the seat viewing.
RATING: *****
Interesting Facts:
Alfred Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this story; it is said that Clouzot beat him by only a few hours.
I have to watch this one again soon.
ReplyDeleteAs a first time viewer it works right to the end as we as audience have no clue what is going on.
The bathtub scene is awsome.
Agreed!
DeleteAs it was a French film, I did always have this nagging doubt in my mind that it would all turn out to be philosophically metaphorical with no conclusion to join up the dots in reality.
ReplyDeleteWere this a modern film, which so often rely upon twists, we'd be expecting something like this and would likely have worked it out by the end of the second reel.
Very good
Oh totally.
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